Device for discouraging false alarms



June 21, 1938. D. D. LONDON 2,121,206

DEVICE FOR DISCOURAGING FALSE ALARMS Filed June 18, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet l r INVENTOR- 1 3472262 Div/241012 BY WJWW 13 ATTORNEY.

June2 1,1938. D. D: LONDON I 6 DEVICE FOR DISCOURAGING FALSE ALARMS Filed June 18, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

24/226] D Lamp/z,

/7 5 ATTORNEY.

.June 21,1938. D gD N 2,121,206

DEVICE FOR DISCOURAGING FALSE ALARMS Filed June 18, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet s 6 5 -ATIORNEY.

Patented June 21, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I DEVICE FOR DISCOURAGING FALSE; ALARMS Daniel London, New York, N. Y.

Application June 18, 1935, Serial No. 27,167

2 Claims. (01. 177378) said marking member remaining closed and locked on the arm of the operator so' that the operator himself may not open and remove the same.

It is a well-known fact that an enormous numher of false fire alarms are sent every year causing great expense to the various communities, great annoyance and labor to the Various fire departments, and danger, harm and injury to the public by the delays caused in the operation of the fire forces, and the purpose of this invention is to provide means whereby every operator of a fire alarm box will have a marking device locked on his arm by which the operator of the alarm may be recognized. Appropriate authorities like the fire department, police, etc. in the district of the respective fire alarm boxes will be provided, according to my invention, with means to open the locked marking member from the arm of the person giving the alarm, so that people having an honest cause and reason to give the alarm will not be annoyed, while a person giving the false alarm will be marked in a conspicuous manner and will' be recognized and caught, so that my invention will detain people from giving a false alarm.

Another object of my invention is .to provide a device as characterized hereinbefore which will be harmless in its operation causing no injury to the person using the same and permitting him perfect freedom in the operation of the fire alarm device as well as leaving the same after the alarm is given while the marking member may afterwards be opened and removed, as by a key carried by the arriving firemen.

.Still another object of my invention is to provide a device of the type indicated which will be adapted either to permit access to the alarm proper or to operate the samedirectly, in each case simultaneously with the operation of the marking member releasing elements.

Still further objects of this invention will be apparent as the specification of the same proceeds and among others, I may mention: to provide a device of the character described which will be, simple in constructiomefficient in operation, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and install and which will be adapted to be installed in combination with existing fire alarm boxes.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification and accompanying the same:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical plan View of a fire alarm box with my device built in front thereof;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatical elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1, while Fig. 3 is a fragmentary diagrammatical front elevation of my device showing the opening through which the hand of the operator may be inserted, and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatical front elevation of the fire alarm box to which my device, has been applied, showing my device in an open position.

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of my device for discouraging false fire alarms in a normal position before operation, and

Fig. 6 is another sectional elevation thereof, the section being taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail plan viewof a pivoted operating arm, the view being taken as indicated by the arrow 1 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a sectional detail taken on the line 8--8 of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary, partly sectional plan view of a rotating operating part in my device, the view being taken as indicated by the arrow 9 in Fig. 5;

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are details of the co-opcrating Wrist enclosing marking members of my device and the lock employed therein;

Fig; 13 is a diagram indicating the application of my device for the direct operation of a fire alarm.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail by characters of reference, the numeral 20 indicates a fire alarm box in general and the numeral 2i indicates my device for preventing false fire alarms in general, being applied to and in front of the fire alarm box proper 20.

The fire alarm box 20 may be of any construction, well-known in the art and may be operated by any means and methods also Wellknown in the art, as for instance, by rotating a grip or handle 22 (Fig. 4) in the front of the fire alarm box proper 20.

My device for discouraging false fire alarms, in this embodiment thereof, is housed in a casing or box 23, hingedly secured to the front of the fire alarm box 20, as at 24. A spring-operated latch bolt 25 is applied to' the rear of the box 23 being adapted to snap underneath the loop 26 on the front of the fire alarm box 29, automatically locking my device 2| on the fire alarm box 28 when the same is in a closed position. In the front wall 2'! of my device, 2. preferably circular opening 28 may be provided through which the hand of the operator may be inserted into the inside of the box 23.

To an appropriate part of the bottom 29 of said box 23 is secured an upstanding member 38 on which is pivoted a rocking arm 3!, the outer end of which is formed into a disc 32 in which is arranged a rotatable post 33, being operable by a grip 34 and carrying at its lower end 35 a knife-like wing member 36. In a box 31, secured to the disc 32, a coiled spring 39 tends to rotate the post 33 in one direction, the motion thus imparted to the post 33 and its associated parts being limited by the pin 39, as will be obvious.

The inner end 48 of the arm 3| may operate in the slot 4| of an upstanding cylinder 42, being in engagement with the lower end of a slidable pin 43, normally urged in a downward direc tion by the spring 44. A channel shaped supporting member 45 is secured to the top of the pin 43 in which rests in its normal position the lower female element 46 of a ring-like marking member, adapted to partly encircle the wrist of the user, the upper male element or half 41 whereof is normally arranged in an upper channel shaped arcuate part 48 secured to the lower end of an upper pin 49 being downwardly pressed by the spring 50 in an upper cylinder secured to the top 52 of the box 23.

. The lower half 46 of said wrist encircling ring member is normally secured in its resting position in the channel element 45 by a sliding pin 53, secured to and operated by a wire element 54, and the upper half 41 of said marking mem-' ber is normally secured in its channel shaped receiving element 48 by the sliding pin 55 operated by the wire 56, as will be obvious to those versed in this art.

Substantially opposite to and underneath the rotatable wings or knives 36, wing channels 51 are arranged on a rotatable post 58 at the bottom 29 of the box 23,'normally being urged by a spring 59 in the box 68 in the same direction as said wing knives 36 are urged by their spring 38, its movement being limited by the stop pin 6 I.

A second lower flexible wire member 62 is engaging in an adjustable manner the first mentioned lower wire 54, as at 63, being guided in the tube '64 and secured to the left hand side channel member 51, as at 65, and an upper second flexible wire 66 is attached to the end of the first upper wire 56 in a similarly yielding or adjustable manner and then guided by the tube 61 in a downward direction and its end 68 secured to the right hand rotatable channel member 51. Finally a third flexible wire 69 is also secured to the bottom of the right hand rotatable channel 51 and is guided upwardly in tube 18 on the back wall H of the box 23 emerging through an opening 12 to the outside of said back Wall H, as at 13 (Fig. 4), and there being attached to the spring operated latch bolt 25, so that the same may be withdrawn through said wire 69 when said wire is moved in an inward direction.

In this embodiment of my device the use and operation thereof is as follows: Normally the box 23 containing the parts of my false alarm discouraging device is locked on the front of the fire alarm box proper 20 through the latch bolt 25 and loop 26, as will be obvious. In case a person desires to set the fire alarm box proper 28, he will insert his hand into my device through the opening 28 and grasp the handle 34, whereupon he will press said handle and the other end 32 of the arm 3| in a downward direction until the knife-like elements 36 will engage in the general shaped members 51. It will be obvious that through this operation pin 43, the lower resting channel 45 and the lower half 46 of the marking member will be moved upwardly as indicated by the arrow 14, said lower half 46 riding on the toothed branches 15 of the upper half 41 until it will arrive into about the position indicated in Fig. 10, the wrist of the user being encircled by the two members in the space 16 by the said members, the upper half 41 being prevented from upward movement by the action of spring 58.

After the grip 34 and its associated parts just described have been moved downwardly, and the end 48 upwardly, the grip 34 will be turned against the tension of the spring 38 and the knife members 36 will carry the channel members 51 around against the further tension of the spring 59, away from the stops 39 and El, the rotating of said channel members 51 carrying with them the respective wires 62, 54 and 66, 56, respectively, and pulling the pins 53 and 55 from the lower and upper halves 46 and 4?, respectively, of the marking members and so releasing said halves from their resting channels 45 and 48, respectively. At the same time, said turning of the grip 34, and ultimately of the channel members 51, will exert a pull on the Wire 68 and withdraw the latch bolt 25, thereby releasing the box 23 from the fire box proper 28. The operator now may swing the box 23 into the open position shown in Fig. 4 withdraw his hand therefrom and operate the handle or rocking grip 22 of the fire alarm proper 28. The lower and upper halves 46 and 41 of the marking member will however be locked to one another and will remain closed on the wrist of the user, this locking being efiected by a locking pin 80 (Fig. 12) carried by the lower member 46 and urged by a spring 8| into engagement with the teeth 82 of the upper member 41, as will be obvious. Said pin will permit an upward riding of the lower member 46 on the branches 15 of the upper member 41 but prevent a withdrawal thereof.

Upon the arrival of the firemen or other authorities, provided with an appropriate key, the pin 88 may be released from the teeth 82 and the lower member 46 removed from the upper member 41, thereby freeing the wrist of the user from said marking member.

One form of said key is indicated in Fig. 12, and in this embodiment thereof, an opening 83 is provided in each side of the lower member 46 giving access to the key, generally indicated by the numeral 84, to the spring pressed hinged arm 85 carrying the locking pin 88, and said key may comprise a sleeve member 86, a slidable pin-like member 81 and a coiled spring 88 interposed between the sleeve 86 and the head 89 of the pin 81. The outer end 98 of the pin is turned at right angle into a projection as shown in Fig. 12. In use, the spring 88 is compressed by the thumb of the user between the head 89 and the sleeve 86, the projection 98 at the end of the pin is then inserted into the space 9| in the respective side of the lower member 46 in range the parts within said box.

a horizontal position until it reaches beyond the lower end of the hinged lever or arm 85, whereupon it will be turnedupwardly, as shown in Fig. 12, so as to catch said lower end of the arm 85 and then the spring 88 released, sleeve 86 being still held pressed to the side of the member 49 so that the expansion of the spring 88 will automatically pull the locking pin out of engagement with the teeth 82 and permit the removal of the lower member from the upper member. For an easier manipulation, only one such locking pin device may be provided in the member 46 at only one side thereof.

One side wall, indicated by the numeral 92, of the box 29 may be hinged on said box, as at 93, and may normally be keptin a locked position, but may be opened by the firemen or other authorities when necessary'to replace and ar- The initial swinging of the box 23 on its hinges 24 may be aided by a coiled spring 94 inserted between the fire box proper 20 and the box 23 opposite to said hinges 24.

I want to remark that the pins 53 and 55 may be quite short, being rather only tips for the wires 54 and 56, and that the guides shown for said wires may be of such slight curvatures and short lengths as to permit an easy return of said pin-tips after the device has been operated.

A modification of my device is illustrated in principle and in a diagrammatic manner, in Fig. 13, in which the box23 containing my device may be substantially permanently secured on the fire box proper 29 and the mentioned third wire 69, passing from the box 23 through its rear wall to the front wall of the fire box proper 29, will directly engage an element operating said fire alarm, as for instance, a rocking lever 95, as it is well-known in the art, sothat in this modification the operation of my device will not only look a marking member on the wrist of the user but it also will directly operate the fire alarm proper, as will be understood.

It is also obvious that my device may be applied to other appropriate and similar uses than the one described herein, as for instance, to safeguard doors of any kind, safes, etc.

It also will be understood that the two locking ring members 4i; and 41, or either of them, may be secured to a part of the box 23 so that the user of the fire alarm will be temporarily caught and cannot be released except by a fireman, policeman and the like. This securing of said marking device may also be made yielding as by a cord, chain, etc.

It will be understood that changes and variations may be made in the parts and combinations of my device and I hereby reserve all my rights to any and all such changes as are within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the ap pended claims.

What I claim as new, is:-

1. The combination with a fire alarm box having a handle for manually sending an alarm and a continuous wall forming a chamber in which the handle is housed; of a casing having its rear wall hinged to and latched to said chamber walls to serve as a cover therefor; the front wall of said casing having a hand hole; aligned arcuate channeled pieces arranged closely to the hand hole and substantially registering therewith; aligned rods extending upwardly and downwardly from the respective channelled pieces; a spring for tensionally and normally holding the upper rod down to its lowest position with its connected upperarcuate piece; a lower spring acting to normally hold the lower rod and its connected lower arcuate piece in the lowermost position, each of said arcuate pieces being formed with a channel having a hole in one side thereof; a marker or hand-cuff comprising upper and lower telescoping parts resting in the respective arcuate pieces and having holes registering with said holes of the arcuate pieces; extensions on said upper part, corresponding holes being provided in the lower part, to allow their telescopic movement on one another, and means on said parts to releasably lock them in their telescoped position; sliding pins passing through said holes; a tilting lever; a handled revoluble winged disk member carried by one end of said lever, and a tail piece at the other and underlying the lower end of said lower rod; a second revoluble winged disk member on the floor of said casing; the second revoluble member being arranged in the path of the downward movement of the first revoluble member and having means for engagement with the first member to be rotated therewith when the first member is moved downward and then rotated; wires connecting the second disk member with the sliding pins and with the said latch, whereby the marker parts may be released and attached to the wrist of the operator when the head of the lever is depressed contacting the winged members and turning them for releasing pins and unlocking the latch permitting the alarm box door to swing open giving access to the said handle of the alarm box for operating the alarm.

2. Means for sending a fire alarm and releasable means for temporarily marking the sender of the alarm, comprising a fire alarm box and an alarm sending handle therein, a casing closing a side of said fire alarm box being hinged thereto; a lock normally to keep said casing locked on said box and prevent access to said alarm sending handle; a hand hole in said casing; upper and lower telescoped marker parts supported coincident with the hand hole and slightly within said casing; an upper channel piece to receive the top of the upper marker part; a slidable member entering said upper channel piece and said upper marker for its suspension; a guide cylinder; a rod connected to said upper channel piece; a cushion spring in said cylinder urging said rod and channel into a normal lowermost position; a lower cradling channel piece supporting the lower part of the marker; a slidable member entering the lower channel piece and the lower marker part; a slotted cylinder for supporting said lower channel piece, a rod extending down from said lower channel piece into said cylinder; a spring normally urging said rod in a downward direction; a tilted pivoted bar having a lower end underlying said rod and playing in said slot; a handled first revoluble winged de- Alvice on the upper end of said tilted bar; a second revoluble winged device rockable on a pin on the casing fioor being arranged in the path of the downward movement of the first revoluble winged device, its wings being adapted for engagement with the wings of the first device to be rotated therewith when the first winged device is moved downward and then rotated; flexible connections extending between said second lower revoluble device and said sliding members, passing into the channel members, and the lock for the fire alarm door, respectively, whereby when the upper revoluble device is pressed down by a hand reaching through the hand hole and markers and then turned thereby turning the lower revoluble device, said flexible connections will be pulled, this releasing the marker parts which will be locked on the alarm senders wrist by said pivoted bar' pushing .said lower marker part upwardly into engagement with said upper marker part, one connection also releasing said lock to give access to the fire alarm handle which should be turned to complete the alarm; the sender may then go with the markers or hand-cufi on his wrist, and means to unlock said markers.

DANIEL D. LONDON. 

